IFR 03.21.2020

Bellwether: n. From the practice of placing a bell around the

neck of a castrated ram so that it might lead its flock

Bellwether

16 International Financing Review March 21 2020

Who’s moving where...

„ David Binnion, co-

head of equity capital

markets for Asia ex-

Japan at GOLDMAN

SACHS, is retiring

from the bank after 15

years. Binnion joined

Goldman in 2005 as

an associate and was

named managing

director in 2010. He

will be returning to

the UK. William

Smiley, currently head

of equity syndicate in

EMEA, will return to

Hong Kong to replace

Binnion as co-head of

ECM for AEJ alongside

James Wang. Smiley

was previously

Goldman’s co-head of

ECM syndicate in AEJ

from 2010 to 2014.

„ INTL FCSTONE, a

global brokerage and

financial services firm,

has hired Drew Doscher

as head of distressed

debt sales and trading

in its fixed-income

division. Doscher is

tasked with building

the firm’s distressed

debt trading

capabilities. He will

report to Robert

LaForte and Anthony

DiCiollo, co-heads of

global fixed income.

Doscher joined from

BTIG, where he was

head of fixed-income

credit. He was

previously head of

distressed debt trading

at Jefferies, and has

managed distressed-

debt trading platforms

at Barclays and UBS.

„ CITIGROUP has

appointed Robert

Nakamura as head of

markets and securities

services in Japan.

Nakamura will

continue as chief

operating officer for

markets and securities

services and head of

the multi-asset group

in Japan. He reports

locally to Lee Waite,

Japan country officer,

and globally to Carey

Lathrop and Andy

Morton, global co-

heads of markets and

securities services.

Nakamura joined Citi

in 1993, starting in

fixed-income

derivatives trading.

KUDOS TO MORGAN Stanley, which switched its annual

%UROPEANûlNANCIALSûCONFERENCEûINû,ONDONûTOûAûVIRTUALû

gathering at short notice, with speakers dialling in and live

streaming.

One who made the effort was UBS CFO Kirt Gardner.

(EûEXPLAINEDûTHATûINûTHESEûDIFlCULTûTIMESûTHEûBANKûHADû

deployed digital technology to maintain operational

stability – from remote meetings to providing a suite of

social messaging platforms and podcasts for wealthy clients.

According to Gardner, the bank even hosted an online

viewing room for its high-net worth clients to purchase art,

which was apparently very popular. In other words, while

the rest of us are desperately stocking up on toilet rolls and

pasta, billionaires are panic-buying fancy paintings.

BANKERS CAN TAKE the long hours, the market meltdowns

and the intense pressure, but ask them to work from home

and they fold like a gambler with a dodgy hand of cards.

Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid, who, let’s face it,

has faced his fair share of challenges given his employer’s

travails in recent times, dedicated a chunk of his client

BRIElNGûLASTûWEEKûTOûANûENTERTAININGûCOMMENTARYûONûTHEû

joy or otherwise of remote working.

The trouble began when his mobile reception went down

and he faced the prospect of running a client credit call for

1,500 people without a phone.

“We don’t have a landline so my wife offered to drive to

buy a phone,” Reid wrote. When they returned home with

the new phone 20 minutes before the call was due to start

they realised “the builders hadn’t created the phone port

properly. We found that the only available socket was in our

boiler cupboard where all the electrics and internet/phone

line come in.”

Reid was all set to work from the cupboard until he

discovered the new phone needed to be charged for 16

hours. So he used his wife’s mobile instead – which then

duly lost reception. He ended up in the cupboard trying to

do the call with one bar of battery. Let’s hope he gets the

comms sorted soon – or his next call could be from the

doghouse.

NOT EVERYONE HAS suffered like Reid. One PR person talked

happily of doing a press call while out walking the dog, while a

banker of Bellwether’s acquaintance was pleased to report that

on day two of working from home his wife was still bringing

HIMûCUPSûOFûTEAûTOûHISûGARDENûOFlCEû)TûWILLûBEûINTERESTINGûTOûSEEû

how that plays out when days turn into months.

WHENEVER THERE’S A crisis you can always rely on a tin-eared

lNANCEûEXECUTIVEûTOûCOMPLETELYûMISJUDGEûTHEûMOOD

3TEPûFORWARDû*OELû7ERNERûTHEûCHIEFûINVESTMENTûOFlCERûOFû

a Hong Kong-based hedge fund, who was the subject of a

VIRALûVIDEOûTHATûSHOWEDûHIMûLICKINGûHISûlNGERSûANDûWIPINGû

them on a handrail on a subway train.

When the video went viral and Werner attracted the

full wrath of the internet, he tried to limit the damage by

claiming it was intended as a joke to educate his friends

about the ease of spreading fake news amid the coronavirus

pandemic. Werner claimed he disinfected the rail

afterwards and never meant the video to go public.

“I manage other people’s money. How embarrassing is

this?” he told the South China Morning Post.

This gaffe could prove expensive if “other people” fail to

see the funny side. If they do, his fund – Solitude Capital

Management – could soon be living up to its name. „

5 IFR PM 2325 p 13 - 22 .indd 16 20 / 03 / 2020 20 : 28 : 44